


a gift

by moonlight_fairytale



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Set after Dollhouse, With a slight Midori/Mika in the background, because it just happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:53:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28028853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlight_fairytale/pseuds/moonlight_fairytale
Summary: Tetora insists on preparing a gift for his girlfriend. Somehow, Midori and Mika get dragged along.
Relationships: Nagumo Tetora/Narukami Arashi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	1. Part 1

Midori was never a _morning_ person, but today's morning was slightly improved after he happened to cross paths with Mika. It was probably because Mika showed a new plushie he'd sewn, one that was a mix of three animals, and it was extremely cute. He was surprised to find someone who shared his love for hybrid mascots, even though Mika dotted on him like he was a kid sometimes. Or maybe the head petting and the candies were things he did to all of his underclassmen. Who knows?

He almost missed the second bell as he hurried to the classroom with his pocket full of cheap candies. He didn't know what he should do with them, but he figured he could hand them to his classmates.

"I didn't know you and Kagehira-senpai are close." Tetora raised an eyebrow.

"We just happen to share the same level of stupidity." Midori said.

"What level of stupidity?"

"The one when you can't tell apart a regular door from a sliding one…"

"I feel like I'm missing something?" He stared at Midori suspiciously.

"Never mind that, it's better if you don't know."

"Huh." Tetora stopped. Midori feared that he will try to bother him regarding that. He'd prefer if that little incident stayed between him and Mika (and Chiaki and Tsumugi, and the number of people involved was suddenly awfully a lot). "Actually, if you're that close…could you, perhaps, ask him a favor for him?"

"Oh, no." Midori groaned. He didn't expect the conversation to get in _that_ direction. "We're not _that_ close."

"He gave you a pat on the head, how is that not _that_ close?"

"Okay, okay, fine. I could try asking, but I can't promise anything. What kind of favor?"

"Well, Kagehira-senpai is in the handicrafts club, right? He knows how to sew…"

"Yes…" Midori waited for him to continue, even though he already had an inkling about what Tetora wanted help with.

"I wondered if he could help me sew something…"

"I feel like I know where it's going. Alright, I'll…see if he's available." Midori sighed with resignation.

Mika was in the middle of panicking over the chaos in the clubroom when he heard a knock on the door. He was thoroughly miserable, thanks to an item he couldn't find, which he really needed at the moment.

"Senpai?" The door opened slightly, and even before Mika could see his face, he recognized Midori's voice. "Are you busy?"

Technically, he was. If he could find the fabric, that is. he had two outfits that needed some finishes and he wanted to use the sheer glittery fabric he had, the one that he couldn’t find because he was terrible at keeping the clubroom organized. He would've answered with a _yes_ , but ever since he got stuck with Midori in the storehouse, he found he had a soft spot for him. Seriously, his face lit up with such an adorable expression whenever he showed Mika his favorite characters!

"Kinda? Ya can come in."

"Sorry for disturbing you." He stepped into the room, making a good job avoiding the various obstacles on the floor. Mika knew that none of the fabric rolls should be there, but he couldn’t help it, in his state of panic, he just…put them there.

"Nah, ya didn't. Ya never do, really, yer welcome here anytime. It's that…I'm lookin' for somethin' and…well, let's say it's hard to find it in this mess." He said with a bright smile, genuinely happy to have Midori around. Though the timing today wasn't the best, it wasn't Midori's fault in any way.

"Do you need help finding it?" Midori offered, ever being the helpful underclassman. Mika felt déjà vu, though, fortunately, this time, they can't get stuck in the clubroom. Uh, or so he thought.

"Oh? No, no! I wouldn't want to take up yer time. Ya must be busy yerself, right?" He dismissed him, suddenly full of thoughts about getting locked in the clubroom because that could happen.

"No, please, let me help you. I do want to ask a favor of you, so that's the very least I could do." Mika wanted to tell him that it was nonsensical, after what Mika had put him through, he'd help him gladly with whatever he wanted. "What are we looking for?"

"Um…" He was unsure, but if Midori was so willing to help and with the schedule being so tight, he could hardly refuse. "A fabric. It should be folded, probably, glittery black, a bit sheer. Oh, not the one over there." Mika pointed at the table, which had a pile of fabrics. The one he talked about was more of a midnight black, but he figured Midori couldn't recognize the difference in the shades. "What kind of favor?"

"Well…" Midori started searching around, picking up some of the clutter off the floor. He folded the fabrics that didn't match the description, which almost had Mika crying since he never bothered to so, so no wonder that clubroom was in that state. "I need you to help me sew something?"

"Wait, really?" Mika stopped to take a proper look at him, and once he saw Midori was serious, he beamed. "What do ya wanna make? There're some things I'm not the best at, but I'll help for sure! I can ask Oshi-san about things I don't know, too!"

"It's not for me, actually." Midori felt a bit guilty. Mika could be too precious sometimes, and he hated to take advantage of that. "It's for a friend. And it…uh, a personal project? Not for school or anything, so it's okay if you don’t have the time for it."

"I'll need to finish the outfits for the school's projects before, then, if that's okay with ya." Mika's smile still remained.

"You…would help?" Midori was surprised.

"Of course!"

"Senpai, thank you so much." Midori let out a small smile himself. "How can we repay you?"

"Nah, ya don't need to. I just wanna help ya and yer friend."

"Please don't say something like that." Midori's face was disapproving. "Do you need help with anything? Maybe organizing the clubroom? We could definitely do that."

Oh, that was a good offer. Mika could use some help in that. He didn't have enough time nor motivation to put everything in place without Oshi-san scolding him, and it was starting to cause problems for him. As apparent by the hard time he was having finding the one fabric he searched for.

"Also, I might be wrong, but isn't that the fabric you were talking about?"

"Wah, it is! Ah, thank ya kindly, Midori-kun!"

* * *

_"So, did you ask him?"_

_"Yes, yes, don't be so impatient. He said he'd help, but he's got some school's projects to finish before."_

_"Wow, I can't believe he agreed!"_

_"What - ?! You didn't think he would? Then why did you make me ask him in the first place?"_

* * *

It wasn't for another week until Mika texted Midori that he was finally done. He set a day to meet up after school, and as the hands of the clock turned, it felt more and more real. Tetora was anxious, truth be told. Although he never interacted with Mika before, he had a fair share of running into Shu, especially when he was with Kuro. The impression he got from Shu wasn't…the best, to say the least. Ah, if he was honest, Shu was downright terrifying. Maybe it was the wrong timing, but he always seemed stressed and angry, and Tetora had no clue how to deal with it. There was even one time that Shu snapped at him, and to this day, he had no idea what he did wrong to deserve such a reaction.

That was the reason he got Midori to accompany him. Despite Midori's grumbling about not wanting to come along, he still did. Tetora held his tongue on saying anything regarding that, though, he certainly didn't want him to vanish right now.

"Kagehira-senpai?" Midori knocked on the clubroom's door. "Are you here?"

After a couple of seconds, they both heard a muffled _yes_ and Mika telling them to come inside.

The first thing he noticed, even with Midori's tall frame blocking most of the view, was the messy state of the room. Uh, he knew Midori said they need to clean it up in exchange for the help, but he didn't think it'd be that bad. Tetora never allowed his room to end up in such a state. Sure, there were occasions he didn't have enough time to make sure everything is organized, but he liked to follow the saying of _clear space, clear mind_ as best as he could.

"Eh, there ya are." Mika started with a small smile, though Tetora could tell he was somewhat wary.

Right, he should introduce himself first! "Thank you for your help, senpai!" He said with a small bow. "I'm Nagumo Tetora!"

"Oh! Um!" Mika was taken aback by his action. "I'm…Kagehira Mika?!"

Midori could only facepalm seeing the bizarre situation in front of him. He almost joined them and introduce himself as well, because it was funnier than he cared to admit.

"Well, this is the friend I was talking about, Kagehira-senpai." He said after neither of them moved. "So…"

"Yes, I wanted Kagehira-senpai's help with making something." Tetora managed to say. He was visibly nervous, even though so far Mika was seemingly nice, if his previous interactions with the other half of the handicrafts club's members were anything to go by, then…

"Yeah, I heard that from Midori-kun." Mika's voice was now softer, and he seemed to be more relaxed. "I'm not as good as Oshi-san." Tetora almost gulped at the mention of Shu. "But I'll try helpin' ya. What did ya want to make?"

"Ah…" Tetora scratched the back of his head. "Well…it might sound a bit weird, but I want to make a dress."

"A dress." Midori repeated after him.

"Not for me, obviously!"

"A dress, huh?" Mika said thoughtfully. "I don't have much experience with women's clothes, actually…do ya have a pattern in mind?"

"No?" Tetora said. "I…really don't know anything about it. I just wanted to make a pretty dress. I figured senpai might have better ideas because he knows more than me about fashion."

"Uh, that's…" Mika's face reddened at the compliment. "Really not…gah, never mind! I have magazines about the latest trends, so how about we read through 'em and see if we can find somethin' we like!"

He led them to the cabinet in the back of the room, even Midori followed, to Tetora's surprise, and pulled out a stack of magazines in a foreign language.

"Are those in French?" Midori asked.

"Yeah! Oshi-san sent me those! These are the latest trends in France!"

Oh! Tetora was getting excited. If those were trends from France, they must be very fashionable, right? But… "Aren't these really complicated?" He said while directly staring at a dress made of features. He was a complete amateur, after all…

"Don't worry 'bout that. We're just lookin' for the general figure, we'll change some things so we can make it. Even I can't make some of these…" Mika admitted. "I'll tell ya if the pattern is super hard to make."

"I see!" Somehow, Mika was more reliable than he thought he'd be. Not to mention, much less scary. Now that he thought about that, he wasn't scary at all.

After half an hour of browsing through the magazines, they were able to settle on one pattern they all agree on.

"It looks really nice." Tetora said as he looked at Mika's drafts. "What the next thing we should do?"

"Goin' out to buy fabric. We can't use leftovers for a dress because it requires lotsa fabrics! Ah, the measurements, too. We can't start without it."

"Right." Tetora said awkwardly. "It's supposed to be a gift for someone."

"Who?" Mika asked. "Uh, I mean – Oshi-san and I sewed outfits for lots of students, so if it's someone from school, I may have their measurements already…"

"That's…"

"For Narukami-senpai." Midori said flatly when he was tired of Tetora's hesitation.

"Wha? For Naru-chan?" Mika stared at him.

"Yes, they're dating."

"Yer datin'…" It took a moment for the realization to hit Mika. "Yer datin'?! Naru-chan never told me that!"

"Ah, please don't anyone! We want to keep it a secret for now." Tetora said. "Also, about the whole dress thing…"

"Alrighty, I won't tell her. I don't have her measurements, though, 'cause I don't sew the outfits for Knights, hm…"

"What a pain in the ass." Midori sighed.

"I mean, I could ask Naru-chan…"

"But isn't it like telling her? Won't she become curious?" Tetora was worried, knowing his girlfriend.

"Yeah…"

They were stuck, figuratively, for Mika's luck, until Midori decided to be more helpful. "You _are_ her roommate. Can't you check it somehow?"

"Check it how?" Tetora wondered. "Like go and measure her clothes or – hey, don't look at me like that, I can't go around and do that!"

"Of course not." Mika nodded, and for a second, Tetora was glad someone was taking his side, until he continued. "Ya can't measure her clothes. Ya gotta measure something that is custom-made."

"Oh, because other clothes have generic sizes, right? So something like the unit uniform should be good…"

"Right, the unit uniform, yer a genius, Midori-kun!"

Their chatter blended into background noises as Tetora felt the blood draining from his face. He couldn't believe he was going to do it….

Mika instructed him how to take the pattern off the shirt, saying they'll use that. Tetora was grateful only the top was needed, but it didn't make him any less anxious. How was he supposed to do that? Sure, Mika's instructions were easy – take the jacket, fold it, and draw the outline on a large sheet of paper, but that only _sounded_ easy.

The worst part was the fact that the Knights' uniform was hanged on the chair, right in front of him, as if it taunted him to go ahead and follow the plan. Which he couldn't do at that moment.

"Are you okay?" Arashi's voice made him jump a bit, and he turned to look at her. "You've been staring awfully a lot at my uniform."

"I…uh, I've been thinking about it?" He said lamely. Great, that ought to set her off.

"About how ugly it is?"

"What? No." He said quickly.

"Just kidding. I'm probably exaggerating, but it's fine, sweetie, you can just say it. You also think our uniform and boring and uninspiring, right?"

"Yes…?" He answered hesitantly. Frankly, he wasn't sure if he could speak, seeing his own unit's uniforms. They were dressed like they were straight out of Power Rangers… "What about mine, then?" He asked out of curiosity.

"It's cute?" She giggled. "I don't think you can really compare it to other units'. Ryuseitai is…a different sort of idol unit. It does fit your image, though. And you look very handsome in that jacket." She added with a wink.

He found himself getting flustered. _Great_ , he was busy being swayed by his girlfriend's smoothness instead of focusing on his mission. His best idea was to wait until she goes to shower, but her skincare routine was just too long…

"Do you have a live soon?" She changed the subject when she figured this was enough teasing for today.

"No? Why?"

"Ah, I just saw you had a large piece of paper there, I figured it had something to do with it. Like that time you ended up drawing a big picture with the kids after the live."

"It's…for school project." He tried to dodge the topic. Her eyes were too sharp, he got to be careful after drawing the pattern!

"Well! I guess it's time for a short shower." She finally put down her cleansing products. Tetora only knew because he mistook them once. These aren't the same, there was a water-based cleanser and an oil-based one. And there was a toner and essence, and serum…

Everything that ensured that even a short shower will take long, because every product took time to set and you had to put it in a certain order. Or something like that.

He waited nervously for her to enter the bathroom and took a couple more minutes, until he heard the sound of the water stream. Then, he rose slowly, before he realized that was a stupid idea and everything should be done _fast_.

He grabbed the rolled paper and the jacket and did as he was told. He felt the adrenaline rushing as he tried to draw the outline with a shaking hand. This was insane, he spent so much time in numerous competitions, so drawing on a paper should hardly equal to that in its difficulty!

With the outline drawn, he put the jacket back, hoping it didn't look too out of place, and folded the paper, to be put right in his bag, where Arashi couldn't see it.

He sat with crossed legs on his bed, staring at the wall across the room, when he heard a soft _hey_.

"Y-yes?" It might've been the adrenaline rush, but his instincts were still heightened, and he could clearly hear the smallest sound. Even his vision was hyper-focused.

"You're shaking?" Arashi was worried. "Did something happen?"

"Nothing at all." He put his hands on his thighs and pressed them hard in an attempt to calm himself down. "Just a long day."

"Really." She sounded unconvinced. "I won't pry too much, but please tell me if there's something wrong, okay?"

"Yes, I-I will."

He thought that was it, yet it wasn't. He didn't expect her to sit next to him.

"It's still early, and I wanted to show you something if you don't mind." She had her phone out.

"Oh? What?"

Whatever it was she said, he didn't hear it. He blanked out after she came closer and had one of her hand next to his, on his _thigh_.

So…that adrenaline rush took some time to calm down.

"What's up with you?" Midori asked him the next morning, concerned with how Tetora has flopped over his table.

"I'm…completely hopeless…"

When he didn't get any reaction, he raised his head slightly, to see Midori's horrified expression. That was enough to raise his spirits.

"Is that how I sound?" He asked.

"Probably?"

"No." Midori denied it. "It just sounds wrong when _you_ say it. Never say it again."

"Alright, whatever you say. When are we going to see Kagehira-senpai?"

" _We?_ No, no, I'll give you his phone number, but that's it. I'm not getting involved in that anymore."

"Sure." Tetora rolled his eyes. He struggled to not comment about Midori having Mika's phone number. Probably texting him often, too, even though he ignored half of Tetora's messages. Ugh, the struggle was hard.

* * *

Oh, Tetora regretted that. If he knew Midori was going to tag along to the clubroom, he would've said right there and then that _someone_ is having a _crush_. But he couldn't say it in front of Mika, so he settled on glaring hard at Midori, who avoided his gaze. And _he_ had the nerve to laugh at Tetora not being to confess his feelings.

"Ya got the pattern? I can take the measurements from it~" Mika was cheerful today. He had bags full of supplies, or so Tetora assumed. "Ah, I had to shop for fabrics yesterday, so I got one for our project too. Hope ya don't mind it."

"Not at all!" If anything, he was glad. Finding time to fit in his schedule was becoming difficult due to an upcoming tournament. "I'll return you the money later. Um, is it going to be okay with the pattern, though?"

"Yep. I got one that's a bit stretchy, so even if yer drawing isn't perfect, it should be fine." Even though Mika stated he wasn't experienced with women's clothing, he seemed very confident in anything he said. "Well, we'll be working with the sewing machines in school because it's easier. Did ya use one, by chance?"

"No…" He could do the basics. If he wasn't able to, after being taught by both Kuro and Arashi, he'd be a lost case and would never think of trying to sew an entire dress, but he never touched a sewing machine before.

"Ah, I see. Don't worry, it's really easy. Here, I'll show ya how ya use it." Mika signaled him to come closer.

At first, Tetora was scared of breaking the machine, especially when it was school's property, but it _was_ fairly easy to operate it. Mika put it on the lowest speed at first and showed him how they can change the type of stitch, but mentioned they'll be working mostly with a straight stitch. And while the operation was fine, it didn't mean he sewed straightly. Half of the time he ran over the edge.

"It comes with practice." Mika reassured him. "That's why we started with the leftover pieces."

He was never one to shy away from challenges, so it only encouraged him to work harder. Meanwhile, Midori, who spent most of the time fawning over the various plushies in the room, commented here and there. Tetora wished he could ask him to be more useful, but he wanted to make this entire thing on his own.

"It's gonna take a while, huh?" He said after noticing that two hours flew by.

"Yer a beginner, so yeah…but ya will get better in no time. Somethin' like learnin' curve? Eh, I'm not sure, but Oshi-san used t'say that a lot."

"We should be heading home." Midori reminded them.

They put the items they used back to place, and after they left the clubroom, Mika locked the door and they all headed to the front gate.

"We'll meet up again tomorrow, alrighty?" Mika said before waving at them. He didn't live in the dorms like them, so he went in the opposite direction, to the train station.

They saw his figure getting distant, both walking still standing in place, when someone called them out.

"Hey!" It was Arashi. "Did you just finish your practice?"

In any other time, Tetora would've been more than happy to see her, but today…after feeling guilty over yesterday, he was nervous.

"Yes." Midori answer with definite. His expressions tended to blank around people he wasn't as comfortable with, thus making him a good liar, and Tetora was grateful that he didn't have to respond to it himself. He wasn't as nearly as good at lying.

"That was Mika-chan, right? I didn't know you were friends." On the surface, she acted curious, but Tetora knew it, she _was_ suspecting!

"Yeah, apparently, Midori-kun and Kagehira-senpai are _really_ good friends." He allowed himself to say, knowing that Midori wouldn't say such things.

"Really? Oh, I guess I did hear from Mika-chan about you getting stuck in the old storehouse together."

Ah, so that was what Midori referring to?

"You got stuck because you didn't realize the door was a sliding door?!"

"Yes – stop laughing! That's not funny!"

Arashi looked at them with a fond smile. "Mika-chan is a good boy, so I'm happy he has new friends. Though, if someone were to hurt him…"

The threat present between the lines caused Midori to shudder and Tetora to laugh even more. "You don't need to worry. Midori-kun might be big, but he can't hurt anyone. Besides, they're _very_ close, I'm sure he doesn't want to hurt Kagehira-senpai."

"Oh, I see."

Midori didn't understand the weird smile they both shared, but he had a feeling they were laughing at his expense and that he didn't want to expand on this subject.

"I'm not going to ask, let's just…go home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my last fanfic I mentioned I had other ideas for this ship, so here it is~ I'm basically writing all the characters I love in the same fanfic and enjoying exploring their relationships (mostly an excuse to write Midori and Tetsu being shitty friends, but supportive nonetheless)  
> It became too long, so I had to split it off somewhere, hopefully, I can post the second part next week or the week afterward.


	2. Part 2

Over the course of the next week, Tetora spent every afternoon in the handicrafts' clubroom. Mika was amazed to see how fast he improved, and during that week, they were able to cut the pattern and start sewing. Of course, there were parts they had to redo repeatedly, but it was nothing compared to some project Mika had done himself in the previous years. He still shuddered thinking about that one jacket that was a nightmare to make because of the massive amount of decorations on it.

He believed they could finish the basic shape today – ah, that could be nice. In his mind, he already thought about how they should proceed with this project. He spent a lot of time thinking about it, more than the attention he gave to others, probably because it was a gift for Arashi.

"You don't listen to me either." Arashi poked him. "What's up with everyone today? Why does no one want to listen to me?"

"Gah, sorry, I was just distracted." He made up an excuse. He promised to keep up the secret, so he can't go screw it up now.

"I can tell." Arashi faked a hurt expression. "No one pays attention to me, I'm _really_ sad."

Somehow, Mika could tell who the other distracted person was. Not that he could cheer her up openly, he wasn't supposed to know yet. Ha, he couldn't believe she didn't tell him! And it seemed like Midori knew! He should ask how that happened.

"Sorry?"

"You should be. Nowadays, our lunch break is the only time we can spend time together."

"Yer right, sorry, Naru-chan, I'll listen carefully to every-thin' yer sayin'."

"In that case, I have something I want to ask you." She rubbed her hands together, with a predatory look Mika knew too well.

"Actually!" He stood up. "I suddenly remembered Yukkun sayin' he'd help me with the homework!"

"Ah, ah, you can't escape away from me that easily!"

"I think I need to redo that part." Tetora said miserably.

"Probably, eh, don't look like that. Yer doin' fine, trust me. I was even worse." Mika comforted him. He could've offered to sit down and help with the complicated parts, but Tetora insisted on doing it on his own. Mika felt his heart warmed by his cute underclassmen, always looking to help, or working so hard. They were all too adorable! He almost scolded himself for thinking Tetora looked a bit scary when he first met him.

"I can't imagine _that_." He said with such a serious face.

"Really, Oshi-san used t'say I have two left hands." He waved his hands with a small smile. "He'd never let me do anythin' because I'd mess it up."

"Well – I think senpai is amazing!"

"Nah, I could say the same about ya. Yer very determined t'do it, even though ya never sewed somethin' that complicated before."

"Ah, I just wanted to, but without your help, I wouldn't be able to do half it." He suddenly became so bashful hearing a compliment, but quickly returned to his straight posture. "I mean, a real man is never afraid of unfamiliar things, right?" He puffed out his chest, as if to emphasize his point.

Mika giggled for a bit, then watched as Tetora ripped out the stitches. That was a process that took some time, so he allowed himself to go over his lists in the meanwhile. He had bought the supplies he needed in his last shopping trip, but there were things he forgot to include, as usual, and he had to plan the next projects as well. Managing the club on his own was hard work, but he promised Shu he'd take care of everything.

He put down the pen and turned his gaze to Tetora, to see if he was struggling with something. However, he wasn't done with the ripping. Mika didn't mind the silence in the room – that was the common practice when he worked with Shu – but there was a subject that piqued his interest.

"Say – Tetora-kun, do ya mind if I ask about how Naru-chan and ya started goin' out?"

"That's…" Tetora's face reddened quickly. He stared at the two pieces he needed to work on before clearing his throat. "Well, it's a bit of a funny story. For others, probably. I had a crush on her since last year, so I…uh, ended up confessing with some help…"

"Oh." Mika's eyes widened. _Confessing to someone else_ , he thought, _Tetora-kun must be so brave_. "Yer really the amazing one, Tetora-kun!"

"You compliment me too much, senpai." Tetora sighed. "I'd like to say that I was able to do it on my own, but in reality, I wasn't. I had to get help from others. And in the end, if it weren't for Taisho, I wouldn't even be able to ask her out."

 _Taisho?_ It took Mika a few minutes to realize that he was talking about Kuro. Thinking about that, Mika found it unbelievable. Asking him for advice regarding dating? He was aware of their close friendship, but his respect for Tetora went up, nonetheless.

"Then…the dress? Why do ya wanna make one?"

"I wanted to prepare a special gift! I figured a handmade gift is the best! But, uh, I'm really bad at cooking, so I can't make a nice dinner…I thought a dress would be simpler to make."

"Yer really bad at cooking?" Mika was baffled. How bad was he that such an intricate design seemed simpler to him?

"It's a long story, but yeah. Lots of people said I'm not allowed to cook, especially grilling."

"Heh, I'm actually the same. Oshi-san wouldn't let me cook 'cause I'm always burnin' stuff. Though, I'm doin' that on purpose, I like burnt food."

"Really? It's so hard to imagine that." Tetora stared at him with wide eyes. "You give an aura of a sophisticated person."

"Ehh…" Mika made a noise. "Maybe Oshi-san, definitely not me."

"I might've misjudged you senpai. Ah, I don't mean in a bad way! You always seemed hard to approach, but talking to you like that made me realize you really aren't…"

"Tetora-kun…" Mika started with a wide smile but was interrupted by a loud _ahem_ coming from the door.

"What exactly _are_ you talking about?" Midori said, with a slight intimidating stare in his eyes.

"We were talkin' 'bout how we both are terrible at cookin'!"

"Actually, Midori is a pretty decent cook." Tetora said. Might as well throw him a bone, because, after this conversation, Tetora could see why Midori liked him. And that may help with the blank expression Midori was wearing, the one that others usually interpreted as boredom, but Tetora could tell it wasn't.

He turned to the sewing machine once again, letting them talk with each other, and shifted his concentration from the background noise to the fabric laid underneath the needle.

* * *

Arashi flipped through the magazine she held. In truth, she didn't even read the articles, despite the feature one that caused her to buy it in the first place. It was a two-page spread about Ryuseitai promoting their closest live, with a short review about the unit's history. She mostly stared at the pictures of the members in their unique poses, with quite the fond look. No one could blame her for favoring her boyfriend's pose, right?

However, said boyfriend was acting strange lately. For one – he was coming home late every day. She could excuse it with the fact that he had been busy with both the event and the karate competition, but…it didn't mean that she wasn't allowed to feel lonely. Especially when he seemed to have enough time to spend with his classmates. With Mika too…that was the second thing she found odd. Of course, she didn't mind them spending time together, if anything, she was happy that two important people in her life were getting along. Still, they became so close without her noticing, and she had a suspicion they tried to keep something from her.

Not to insult them, but neither of them was very good at keeping secrets. Their reactions were similar, actually – they tended to freeze in shock, then stutter some nonsensical excuse.

"What should I do?" She sighed to herself. She didn't want to push them, but…it _did_ feel lonely.

"I'm back!" She heard Tetora's loud voice, followed by his steps to the room. Looking at her phone, it was late evening, and today wasn't a club day. No, she shouldn’t think that, perhaps he practiced on his own.

"How was today?" She closed the magazine and stood up to greet him.

"Tiring." He shrugged, reluctant to share any more information.

 _Poor thing_ , she wanted to spoil him so badly, so she started with a small kiss on his forehead but stopped when she noticed that he put his hand behind his back.

"Ahem?" She pried the hand to take a good look at it. "Your hand is covered in so many band-aids…what…" _That_ couldn't be because of karate practice. "Why?"

"I was a bit clumsy today…"

"You?" Unbelievable. That was a _Mika excuse_. "Doing what?" She crossed her arms, now angry with his response. She gave him enough space to do…whatever he did that he wanted to hide from her, not even complaining, but that can't go on. "I'm waiting…"

"I'm really really sorry, but I can't tell you?"

"Should I be worried?"

"No, not at all. Just…maybe turn a blind eye? It's nothing bad, I promise."

That made her soften immediately. She couldn't stay mad at her boyfriend when he looked at her with such determination. And…at least he didn't try to hide it anymore. And she didn't distrust him, he was too much of good, earnest boy…

"Fine." She gave up. "But, in exchange, you must promise to pay more attention to me."

"O-of course! We can do anything you want right now!"

Although Arashi promised to turn a blind eye, it didn't mean that she couldn't have the subject come up naturally in a conversation.

"Naru-chan…please don't stare at me like that, it's scary…" Mika whined, but it didn't deter her. He was an accomplice, so he couldn't claim he didn't deserve it. She couldn't interrogate her sweet boyfriend, but her best friend was a fair game. Though, _interrogation_ was a strong word, she simply asked him a few questions.

"I'm just curious."

"Eh…" Mika made a pitiful noise, which, okay, was cute and made her feel bad. "I don't understand…"

"Mika-chan…" _No!_ She couldn't let herself be that soft. She must steel herself and ask him! "It's not such a hard question. As I said before, I'm simply curious." Truthfully, her question might've been a bit harsh, but she couldn't word herself very well. How else can she ask her friend, who was never fond of interactions with strangers, what made him change and seek out an underclassman?

"He's Midori's friend…" He said, and it made sense. The problem laid with the way he averted his eyes and sound overly guilty. Sure, under other circumstances, she would've accepted this answer, but this was too incriminating! 

"Is that all?" She nudged him a bit. He still couldn't look at her in the eye. Should she retreat? She did feel bad for stressing him, and it might not even be related to Tetora's sudden disappearances. Unless… "Do you know?"

"K-know 'bout what?" There it was, the panicked look.

"Mika-chan, honey, I love you, but you're such a bad liar. He told you about…about us, right?" She lowered her voice, since they were in the classroom, surrounded by students.

"Ya didn't tell me!" He made a sad puppy face.

"Because you're a bad liar! Hey, don't look like that, let me explain." She signaled him to move closer. "It's a fairly new relationship and…well, you know we share the same room in the dorms. What if someone caught wind of it and told management? Of course, we can lie to them and tell them it's wrong, but they would want to move us, as a precaution."

"I guess yer right. I'm sorry! I'll try to keep quiet, I promise!"

"Do try." She smiled. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. I should've..."

"Naru-chan…" Mika said, then stared at his buzzing phone. "Oh, oops. Gotta go to the clubroom."

Arashi didn't have the time to ask him what that was about, there were no other members besides him, but he bolted out of the classroom before she was able to, and probably didn't even hear her telling him to return quickly. She looked at his lunch box, only half of it eaten, and sighed to herself, already knowing he wouldn't eat the rest. Must he make her so worried? Who else would look after him now that his dear Oshi-san wasn't around, if not her?

Not two minutes afterward, the classroom's door opened again, but this time it was an underclassman. Takamine Midori, actually, obviously looking for Mika.

"Hey!" She waved at him, catching his attention. "Mika-chan is not here. Went to the clubroom for a while. He would be back in a short while." _Hopefully_ , she told herself.

"Oh? Really?" He was about to step back, but Arashi motioned him to come closer. If plan no. 1 failed and plan no. 2 was half successful, then there is no choice but to turn to plan no. 3.

"Yes?" He asked cautiously. No doubt, this one was much more difficult from her boyfriend and best friend.

"I don't think I told you, but I'm really grateful for you keeping up Mika-chan's company."

"Oh, no, you already did." He said flatly. Oh, this one got a mouth on him, huh? Not very cute, but if her boyfriend thought of him as a very close friend, maybe she was missing something.

"Now, now, I'm just glad – _very_ glad – to see the three of you getting along."

"Is that it? Or do you want to say something else?" So blunt! Blunt and un-cute. She was about to retort, but surprisingly, Mika returned to the classroom.

"Midori-kun? What are ya doin' here?"

Fine, she felt like she wouldn't get anything out of him, anyway. And, regardless of her _questioning_ , she promised Tetora she'd trust him. It was best if she kept her promise and didn't try inquiring too much.

* * *

Tetora hated the thought of keeping Arashi in the dark for too long, but he couldn't help it. Even though he spent almost every afternoon on it, the project was slower than expected, thanks to some stupid decorations. By the time he was able to get half of them done, he shared Mika's passionate hate for decorations. He mostly cursed himself for thinking about this complicated design, but when he imagined Arashi's surprise, he knew it was worth it.

Still, he felt like they didn't spend enough time together, and he started to notice the worried expressions on Arashi's face for a few seconds here and there, hear some sighs from time to time, enough to make him feel like he was a bad boyfriend.

That led him to send her a message about the close weekend, asking her if she wanted to stroll around town after his first match.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" She asked. They sat down at a nice café, waiting for their order to come. Tetora didn't realize how much he missed it, but he wasn't in the best of moods, and he feared it showed.

"Yes, it's alright. I knew we couldn't get to the regionals…" He had no excuse for his performance, though. While his underclassmen were mostly inexperienced, he certainly wasn't. It would make sense they'd make the mistakes he did, out of excitement to compete in a high-level competition, but Tetora was ashamed. He even had Kuro coming all the way to cheer up on him, and no doubt, the notification on his phone was from him, telling him something along the lines of _don't worry, you still have next year._ He couldn't bear opening the phone to read it, knowing that he might've done his best at his match, he didn't practice nearly as much as he should've.

"Do you…want to go home?"

"No! Uh, I'm sorry for ruining the mood with that, but I really don't want to go home."

"If you're sure." She said with uncertainty in her voice.

Right then, the waitress came and put their plates on the table. They ordered a light dinner, alongside soft drinks.

"Would it help to take your mind off the matter if I talked about something?"

He nodded eagerly, always happy to hear his girlfriend speak.

"Well, yesterday, at our gym class, Ritsu fell asleep while we were preparing to run."

"You mean…while he was standing up?"

"Yes…oh, that happened a few times before, actually, but that's not the funny part. He somehow managed to slap Koga-chan in the process. But with his fist, so like a weak punch, right to the cheek."

"Wow, I wish I could've seen that. I imagine he didn't take well to that."

"Nope! He snapped at him."

After the dinner, which brightened up his mood, they spontaneously decided to go to the cinema and see if they could find an interesting movie to watch. They couldn't hold hands on their way to the cinema, but they could do so while watching the movie. It's been so long since the last time they did that, making Tetora renew his motivation for finishing the dress. When he's finally done, the busy schedule would be no more, and he could spoil his girlfriend with many more dates like this one.

"I'm done! I'm finally done!" Tetora felt like crying. After almost three weeks of hard job, he was done. In front of him was the dress, fitted on the mannequin in all its glory.

"Ya did great, Tetora-kun!" Mika praised him. "It looks amazing!"

"Ah, I can't believe it." He collapsed on the nearest chair. "I thought it wouldn't end. All these small decorations and details…"

"Eheh, it feels like that, but isn't it rewardin' to see yer creation like that?"

"So…what do I do now?" It suddenly struck him that he didn't think about the next steps in his plan. He was worried over sewing all the details that made him miserable, that he didn't think about how he should present it.

"Well, ya can take it to yer room. Just…be careful with transportation. I'm sayin' it from experience."

"Right." He bowed deeply in front of Mika. "Thank you so much for your help, senpai. I would've not been able to do it without you."

"O-oh! Ya don't need t'be so formal! It's fine, really! Now, hurry up before Naru-chan finishes her trainin'. Ya wanna be there before her!"

"Yes, I will leave now." Looking at his clock, he'd be able to make it if he left now. "I will definitely repay you for your help, senpai. I promise this, on my pride!"

Mika helped take the dress off the mannequin and put it on a hanger. With the hanger in one hand, he bowed once again, before leaving the clubroom at a fast pace.

"Sheesh, he surely is excited about it." Midori yawned.

"Hey, hey, don't be like that, Midori-kun. Ya saw how much effort he put into that. And the result looked great!"

"Yes, I'd be lying if I said otherwise."

Tetora heard their voices getting farther as he walked down the stairs, two at a time, anxiously hurrying to get back to the dorms before Arashi did. On his way, he made sure to look at the field, and took notice of Arashi standing on the side, cheering up the new underclassmen in her club. He stopped to smile, but quickly scolded himself.

The walk to the dorms was short, thankfully, and he passed through the lobby with some people raising an eyebrow at him. Some tried to start up a conversation, evidently curious about the hanger he was holding, with the large cover hiding most of the item inside. He politely told them he was in a hurry, dismissing their questions and promising to answer them later. He arrived at the room short of breath due to that.

By now, Arashi should be finished with the training. She was probably on her way already, unsuspecting of the surprise he had prepared. Well, mostly. She knew something was up, but not to this extent. He looked for a place to hang the hanger on, but with the height of the dress, he couldn't find anywhere that will fit.

That was…a miscalculation on his side. Never mind! He was fine with holding it until she came! Though, his arm did start to hurt and shake.

He was about the switch hands when she finally came. He heard her cheery voice before seeing her, feeling his heartbeat quickening. He still wasn't used to it, and frankly, it was bewildering how one girl could make him the same as he felt when he competed in karate or performed on stage.

"How was your day, dear – oh, my, what is that?" She stopped in her tracks. "Are you holding a costume for a live?"

No, the bottom of the dust cover was big, by the looks of it, it didn't look like a simple costume.

"It's a gift! For you!" Tetora's face was getting redder and redder with each word, the confidence seeping out of his voice. "I…I made it for you."

"You…made me…ah." It suddenly clicked. Arashi couldn't contain herself, breaking into a big smile. "Don't stand there like that. C'mon, I want to see your gift."

"Y-yes!" He moved next to her and pulled the zipper for her. The, now-zipped, cover felt to the ground, revealing the dress he's been working on for so long.

"That's…" Arashi stared at it with an open mouth. "That's so beautiful…"

An off-the-shoulders dress, in a sparkly white fabric, which dyed into a light shade of blue at the ruffles at the bottom. The top was adorned with fabric flowers in white, blue and gold, with a few placed slightly beneath the top, towards the ruffless. It almost looked like a princess's dress, she thought to herself, how suiting of Tetora to make such a dress. And how adorable it was, she looked at him fondly.

"You like it?"

"Of course, I do. This dress is astonishing, really." She lightly touched the fabric to feel it. Looking at the color scheme made her realize… "Did you…have Knights' uniform in mind when choosing the colors?"

"Yes, I did." He smiled shyly. "So it looks like a uniform for your unit."

"Oh…my…God…" This…was too much. Tetora was too thoughtful. She recalled the times she complained about her uniform and how she wished she could've worn a pretty dress on stage, but going to the extent of preparing one for her? "Do you have any idea how much I love you?"

She felt the tears welling up, but it didn't stop her from seeing Tetora with the most flustered face she'd ever seen.

"I-I do too."

She didn't know if she wanted to pinch his cheeks or kiss him breathless. She might do both, but the dress comes first. "Let me try it on."

"R-right now?"

"Yes, I want to wear it right away!" She took the hanger from his hand and left for the bathroom. Tetora waited anxiously for her return, a little less nervous now that he knew she liked it. He stared at the bathroom's door, then at his hands, and then at the window, wondering if the dress was too complicated to put on alone, and regaining his flush when he thought about helping Arashi into it.

"Here I am." At last, she came out of the bathroom with a soft smile. If she thought the dress looked beautiful, then he had to correct her and tell her that the sight of her wearing it was simply stunning. He tried to put it into words, but the struggle was hard with his sudden stutter.

"Thank you so much, sweetheart." She gave him a small peck on his lips. "This is the best gift I could ask for, truly."

"I'm just happy to see you happy."

"Aw, you're making my heart melt. How did I deserve such a sweet boyfriend? A boyfriend who made me a gorgeous dress, all on his own?"

The praise was starting to get to his head, and he puffed his chest. "Only the best for my girlfriend."

"Seriously, it is the best. I must go and show it off to everyone!"

"O-oh?" Tetora couldn’t say another word before she left the room like a tempest, holding the dress to keep it from touching the floor, in speed that reminded him how that she was the track and field club. Peeking out of the door, he heard her excited voice as she went from room to room. He felt warmth expanding in his chest upon this sight.

He could wait until her return to ask her more about it, but he felt he succeeded at creating a Cinderella dress for her, and that was all he cared about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Earlier this week, I dropped my phone on my laptop and it literally KO'd my laptop, it's not even funny. I was able to get my laptop working, fortunately, but it still got me panicked for a day, thinking I lost all my progress :(  
> 2\. This is basically me writing this adorable ship because someone gotta give Arashi a pretty dress, and if HappyEle are not going to do it, then you bet I'm gonna do it on my own.  
> 3\. And to finish everything off - thank you for reading this fanfic. It was supposed to be a short one, based on a cute idea I got a long time ago, but it turned into such a long fanfic!  
> This is the moment to say that I've grown very fond of TetoAra, but my muse kinda died on me because of work, so if you have any ideas for fanfics about them, I'm definitely willing to try writing them, so feel free to hmu~

**Author's Note:**

> In my last fanfic I mentioned I had other ideas for this ship, so here it is~ I'm basically writing all the characters I love in the same fanfic and enjoying exploring their relationships (mostly an excuse to write Midori and Tetsu being shitty friends, but supportive nonetheless)  
> It became too long, so I had to split it off somewhere, hopefully, I can post the second part next week or the week afterward.


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